In February, when the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released its final report on Notifiable Data Breaches for 2018, it revealed a frightening sense of déjà vu. After almost a full year of reported breaches, it found enterprise data security in Australian businesses is still seriously wanting. In the last quarter of 2018, the number of data breaches suffered by Australian companies jumped 7% to 262, with malicious criminal attacks, human error, and system faults leading the way.

It’s no secret that mobile users are more likely to fall victim of phishing scams than users on desktop. That’s because most people have their mobile phones on them just about all the time, and are less likely to scrutinize messages sent through text or social media. Somehow, people are not as suspicious of short texts as they are of emails, and can be more ambivalent about mobile data security.

According to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, of the organisations reporting data breaches in the last quarter, more than one third of them could put those breaches down to failings in their security culture.

In a very short space of time mobile has evolved from being another device for IT to support, to a new way of doing business. One that allows employees to do the same work they can do at their desk, from any location at any time. In the age of flexibility, employees are no longer shackled to their desks, but tethered to their mobile devices.

Australian businesses need to do more to stem data breaches

Overseas, the cost of the data breach at credit-reference agency Equifax is still rising, having already surpassed $439 million. With more costs to come, it’s highly likely this data breach will go down as the biggest in corporate history.